Baby number two arrives early for guest blogger

I have some exciting news about Catie O'Toole, a colleague of mine who occasionally guest posts on this blog. She had her baby over the weekend! I visited her at Crouse Hospital Sunday, and the baby is beautiful. Catie is doing well. So well, in fact, that she wrote the following guest post in her "down time." What a trooper.

Here's her guest post:

I was just about to start my ninth month of pregnancy this past week. Reassured I still had another month to go, my husband, Dave, left for a conference in Maryland. Meanwhile, I spent my free time at home organizing and preparing for the baby's impending arrival. As the week wore on, I began to feel the same kind of fatigue I felt before the birth of our daughter, Maria, 2-1/2 years earlier.

But I was grateful knowing I still had four more weeks to get ready.

Friday morning I woke up and knew something wasn't right so I went to the doctor.

Surprise!

My water broke.

They sent me to the hospital. When I let my husband know, he started the eight-hour drive back to Syracuse.

My mom, Joanne, stayed by my side until Dave arrived.

Fortunately Dave made it back with plenty of time to hold my hand during every contraction and witness the birth of our second child.

So much for making plans. Our son, Tommy, had another idea - one that we'll always remember.